Since I have had unlimited internet access I have not been blogging very much at all. Yes, I dropped the ball. But I'm back! At least for today because tomorrow I'm headed back to Zapotitlan!!! Can I get a woohoo?!?!
If you would have told me 6 months ago that I'd be spending so much time there, and loving it I would have called you a mentiroso...or mentirosa if you're a girl. God did some kind of work in me because not only am I obediently going back, but I'm so excited because I love it there! I'm only going to be there for about 10 days because I want to come back "home" before going home to PA. Wow! Two more weeks!!
Yes, I miss you so much, and I can't wait to be back in PA to see you all! But I'm so at home here I really just want everyone in my life to move to Mexico with me. Ok? Ok, it's settled then.
On Thanksgiving, we celebrated Thanksgiving gringa-in-Mexico style. I made a traditional Strause Thanksgiving meal--turkey, stuffing, potato filling, corn, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, 7 layer salad and cranberry salad. It was stinkin' yummy! My Mexicans loved it. Israel & Aby the pastoring couple in Zapotitlan just happened to be in the city last week so they came over for Thanksgiving, and brought a pumpkin pie. Yay for American food. Actually I don't like pumpkin pie, but I was excited for those who do. It was just a great time with good food, and good friends.
So, tomorrow I'm off to Zapotitlan. We should have some vegetables to harvest pretty soon, and I'm very excited about that! I'm hoping to get some sweet corn before I leave, but with the way the weather has been, I'm not so sure that's going to happen.
I had a few Spanish classes while I was here in Mexico City, and my Spanish is still really bad but it's better than it was. Rach, here's your word for today: manzana (apple). I want to spell it phonetically, but I'm not very good at that. Here's a try mahn-ZAH-nah.
Rachael quiere muchas manzanas con chile. (Rachael wants many apples with chili.)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Rach's Word of the Day
Rach requested I teach her a new Spanish word each time I blog. Since I already blogged today, before I saw her proposal, here's the word of the day for Rach...and anyone else who's interested:
palabra - word
Esta es tu nueva palabra.
This is your new word.
palabra - word
Esta es tu nueva palabra.
This is your new word.
Mas Lomas
I realized I had forgotten how absolutely gorgeous it is in Lomas. Hilary and I got here, to my host family’s vacation home, Sat. night around 8:30. The rest of the family was away at a birthday party, but arrived at home soon after we did. The family had come to Lomas on Friday, and Hilary and I stayed in the city an extra day because she needed to be at church on Saturday, and her parents didn’t want her staying alone. Friday night was fantastic for me, because I’m the type of person who craves alone time and that doesn’t ever happen in my house. When Hilary and Chucho said they were going to the movies and invited me along, I declined and enjoyed the house to myself. I watched more t.v. than I have in the past 4 months. I laughed hard, and watched an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition so I cried hard too. I cooked up some chorizo, which I knew would make me sick, and enjoyed my totally self-absorbed night alone.
Saturday morning none of us wanted to get up. Chucho and his sister, Pris, stayed with us also. We needed to leave at 10:00 to get to church on time. That’s the same time that I started waking up teenagers. We got to the church an hour or so late. I didn’t understand why we were supposed to be there anyhow, but no one seemed upset that we were late. Actually, we had to wait for the other youth to get there. Hilary taught them a skit to the song Jesus Mesias, or Jesus Messiah. They worked on it for about 3 hours, it was pretty good by the end of the day. I look forward to seeing them perform it.
As Hilary and I were trying to find our way to our bus to come here, one of the guys from church texted her because some of the youth wanted to hang out with me. He said they hadn’t had time with me and wanted to spend time with me. Awww… they’re so great. It’s been difficult building relationships because I’ve been back and forth from Mexico to Zapotitlan so much. I haven’t really had the opportunity to stay in one place long enough to pursue friendships, but now that I’ll be in Mexico for the next 4 weeks that’s something I really want to do. I’ve often, said that when I leave I don’t want to be “that gringa that was here for a while”. So now I really need to work on relationships with more people than just my family. Well, now being tomorrow after we get back to the city.
Last night (Sunday) we went to papa Roberto’s sister’s house. Before we went, mama told me that the house is big and there is a lot of food. The food was out of control. They just kept sitting things to eat in front of me. No matter how much I said “no, gracias, estoy llena (no thanks, I’m full)” the food kept coming. Actually, I guess it wasn’t as bad as it felt. I managed to turn down the cake, I ate the amazing tostada with shrimp, turned down the peanuts, ate some corn cake (mmmm…), only ate 1 piece of the candied fruit thing, only a bite of a sweet…. empanada (I think), and too much gummy candy. Rach, you would have loved the gummies. They were spicy and sweet …and muy rico! I’m not sure what I liked more the tostada, or the corn cake…both were delicious! When we left the house, after eating and eating and eating, we stopped for dinner. Wait, what??? I was very confused. We stopped at a taco place, which apparently had amazing tacos. My family recounted the food that I ate in order to convince me to eat more, decided I hadn’t had enough and that I really should eat some tacos. Despite their persistence, I won the battle and managed to leave without so much as tasting a piece of steak.
I’m hungry…and my family will be up in a bout 2-2 ½ hours. Today we’re heading back to the city. Normally it takes us about 1 ½-2 hours to get here, but today it will probably take 4 hours to get home because of traffic. I remember the same thing from last year when I was here. It’s ok, hopefully I’ll sleep on the way home. I didn’t sleep much last night because I wanted to get up for the sunrise this morning. I guess because I was trying to wake up before my alarm so that it didn’t wake up Hilary, whose room I was sharing, I kept waking up all night. It was worth it though. Not only did I see the sunrise, but I also get this great alone time.
Saturday morning none of us wanted to get up. Chucho and his sister, Pris, stayed with us also. We needed to leave at 10:00 to get to church on time. That’s the same time that I started waking up teenagers. We got to the church an hour or so late. I didn’t understand why we were supposed to be there anyhow, but no one seemed upset that we were late. Actually, we had to wait for the other youth to get there. Hilary taught them a skit to the song Jesus Mesias, or Jesus Messiah. They worked on it for about 3 hours, it was pretty good by the end of the day. I look forward to seeing them perform it.
As Hilary and I were trying to find our way to our bus to come here, one of the guys from church texted her because some of the youth wanted to hang out with me. He said they hadn’t had time with me and wanted to spend time with me. Awww… they’re so great. It’s been difficult building relationships because I’ve been back and forth from Mexico to Zapotitlan so much. I haven’t really had the opportunity to stay in one place long enough to pursue friendships, but now that I’ll be in Mexico for the next 4 weeks that’s something I really want to do. I’ve often, said that when I leave I don’t want to be “that gringa that was here for a while”. So now I really need to work on relationships with more people than just my family. Well, now being tomorrow after we get back to the city.
Last night (Sunday) we went to papa Roberto’s sister’s house. Before we went, mama told me that the house is big and there is a lot of food. The food was out of control. They just kept sitting things to eat in front of me. No matter how much I said “no, gracias, estoy llena (no thanks, I’m full)” the food kept coming. Actually, I guess it wasn’t as bad as it felt. I managed to turn down the cake, I ate the amazing tostada with shrimp, turned down the peanuts, ate some corn cake (mmmm…), only ate 1 piece of the candied fruit thing, only a bite of a sweet…. empanada (I think), and too much gummy candy. Rach, you would have loved the gummies. They were spicy and sweet …and muy rico! I’m not sure what I liked more the tostada, or the corn cake…both were delicious! When we left the house, after eating and eating and eating, we stopped for dinner. Wait, what??? I was very confused. We stopped at a taco place, which apparently had amazing tacos. My family recounted the food that I ate in order to convince me to eat more, decided I hadn’t had enough and that I really should eat some tacos. Despite their persistence, I won the battle and managed to leave without so much as tasting a piece of steak.
I’m hungry…and my family will be up in a bout 2-2 ½ hours. Today we’re heading back to the city. Normally it takes us about 1 ½-2 hours to get here, but today it will probably take 4 hours to get home because of traffic. I remember the same thing from last year when I was here. It’s ok, hopefully I’ll sleep on the way home. I didn’t sleep much last night because I wanted to get up for the sunrise this morning. I guess because I was trying to wake up before my alarm so that it didn’t wake up Hilary, whose room I was sharing, I kept waking up all night. It was worth it though. Not only did I see the sunrise, but I also get this great alone time.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Gossip & Tacos
Yesterday I was standing on the corner, waiting for the bus. I saw this guy across the street, and thought "I know him. How do I know him?" I thought for a few seconds, and realized he's one of the guys who works in the taco place up the street from my house. I wonder if I've been to the taco place too many times, since the only Mexicans I recognize are either from church or the taco place.
One of my new Spanish words this week is chismoso. Which means gossiper. Tonight a few people are at my house, and a little while ago we were just all standing around. They were talking, I was just trying to be involved. My host sister, Diana, said that she was tired, but was a chismoso so she was staying up to listen to everything. She said that I'm also a chismoso that's why I was hanging around. She then told mama that, and she asked me if it was true. And I said, "No, no entiendo nada pero los quiero mucho." It was a suck-up line. I said, "No, I don't understand anything, but I love you all so much." That's not entirely true, I understand some, but the more I let them think I don't understand the more gossip I'm sure to hear. Hehehe... Ok, for anyone who doesn't like that I'm joking about gossip, it's just a joke. I don't think my family actually gossips about anything, I just think it's a way of joking around.
I was on the metro today thinking about something interesting to blog about,but I don't remember what it was now. Stink! Well, there's always tomorrow!
One of my new Spanish words this week is chismoso. Which means gossiper. Tonight a few people are at my house, and a little while ago we were just all standing around. They were talking, I was just trying to be involved. My host sister, Diana, said that she was tired, but was a chismoso so she was staying up to listen to everything. She said that I'm also a chismoso that's why I was hanging around. She then told mama that, and she asked me if it was true. And I said, "No, no entiendo nada pero los quiero mucho." It was a suck-up line. I said, "No, I don't understand anything, but I love you all so much." That's not entirely true, I understand some, but the more I let them think I don't understand the more gossip I'm sure to hear. Hehehe... Ok, for anyone who doesn't like that I'm joking about gossip, it's just a joke. I don't think my family actually gossips about anything, I just think it's a way of joking around.
I was on the metro today thinking about something interesting to blog about,but I don't remember what it was now. Stink! Well, there's always tomorrow!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Pretty Random
This blog post is going to be pretty random, and hopefully it doesn't come out too weird. I'm writing it when I should be in bed, at 1: 45 a.m. I was looking at pictures today from the harvest party at my church and this one stuck out to me.
The reason it hit me at first is because I don't know the guy in this picture. My church is the type of place where everyone pretty much knows everyone. And I try to make a point to know everyone, it's just part of my personality. I figured he's probably new to church, and something in me wanted to know who he is. So I emailed my friend, Mildred, and asked her. Unfortunately she couldn't see the picture, so I had to describe him. She told me his name, it's Ralph, that he used to be a Latin King, and that he's a nice kid. The term Latin King might not mean anything anything to my loyal readers, so I'll tell you what that means. Latin Kings is the name of a gang, not just any gang, but it's said to be the largest Hispanic gang in the U.S. So this kid is an ex-gang member. Here's a picture of an ex-gang member at a church party, smiling while he paints kids faces. To me, it's a portrait of the power of redemption by the blood of Christ. Ralph is not any worse than me. The sins he's committed are not any greater than mine. And the redemption he has experienced is not any more powerful than what I experience. But still this picture moves me.
I don't know if he'd ever find out that I wrote this, but I hope he's ok with me posting a picture of him for all the world to see...or at least for the 2 of you who read my blog. I'm looking forward to meeting Ralph when I get home...in just a few short weeks.
The reason it hit me at first is because I don't know the guy in this picture. My church is the type of place where everyone pretty much knows everyone. And I try to make a point to know everyone, it's just part of my personality. I figured he's probably new to church, and something in me wanted to know who he is. So I emailed my friend, Mildred, and asked her. Unfortunately she couldn't see the picture, so I had to describe him. She told me his name, it's Ralph, that he used to be a Latin King, and that he's a nice kid. The term Latin King might not mean anything anything to my loyal readers, so I'll tell you what that means. Latin Kings is the name of a gang, not just any gang, but it's said to be the largest Hispanic gang in the U.S. So this kid is an ex-gang member. Here's a picture of an ex-gang member at a church party, smiling while he paints kids faces. To me, it's a portrait of the power of redemption by the blood of Christ. Ralph is not any worse than me. The sins he's committed are not any greater than mine. And the redemption he has experienced is not any more powerful than what I experience. But still this picture moves me.
I don't know if he'd ever find out that I wrote this, but I hope he's ok with me posting a picture of him for all the world to see...or at least for the 2 of you who read my blog. I'm looking forward to meeting Ralph when I get home...in just a few short weeks.
...and not be moved by You
Tonight my sister, Hilary, was listening to Everything by Lifehouse. Actually, she was watching the skit on YouTube because the youth in church want to learn it. I really love that song, and so my attention was turned (from the Eagles game) to it. And I started to think about my situation. I spend so much of my time just being bored, not really doing anything, and wondering what's next. And all of a sudden, I thought "I'm a missionary in Mexico, right now." This isn't about preparing to go, I'm already gone. It's not about getting ready for something that's going to happen, it's already happening. I started to ask Jesus how can I be serving here, with Him, and not be moved by Him. Every second of my day I should be moved by Him. I'm not even sure what it means, but I know it should change me.
Lord, move me!!
You're all I want, You're all I need, You're everything...everything...
I also want to remind you that your life is happening right now. Yes, I believe every season prepares us for the next. But we don't sit and wait for something big to come. We need to work out our salvation right now. Right where you are in this moment is where it's happening. It's where God wants to move in you and through you. Let Him, because He truly is everything.
Lord, move me!!
You're all I want, You're all I need, You're everything...everything...
I also want to remind you that your life is happening right now. Yes, I believe every season prepares us for the next. But we don't sit and wait for something big to come. We need to work out our salvation right now. Right where you are in this moment is where it's happening. It's where God wants to move in you and through you. Let Him, because He truly is everything.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Gringos are Back in Town
You know you're singing The Boys are Back in Town in your head now.
Well, the gringo has been here (Mexico City) since Friday, but the gringa is back now too. I don't actually think I have anything interesting to say right now. I came back last night, and have been on the internet since.
I had a chat with Pastor Gerardo over breakfast about the culture of the Church in Mexico, and the things I should and should not be doing while I'm here. Also, he's going to be giving me Spanish classes started next week. I'm excited about that, but also hoping they go well because he's not the least distracted person I've ever met. And I'm not so sure how classes will go with constant distractions. But, well, he's willing so we'll give it a shot! In exchange for the classes, I'll be trying to help at the church. I'm not sure what I can do, because there's not much that they need done that doesn't require being able to speak or write in Spanish. We'll figure it out!
What else? I don't know. I need to do something so I can write about it later.
Well, the gringo has been here (Mexico City) since Friday, but the gringa is back now too. I don't actually think I have anything interesting to say right now. I came back last night, and have been on the internet since.
I had a chat with Pastor Gerardo over breakfast about the culture of the Church in Mexico, and the things I should and should not be doing while I'm here. Also, he's going to be giving me Spanish classes started next week. I'm excited about that, but also hoping they go well because he's not the least distracted person I've ever met. And I'm not so sure how classes will go with constant distractions. But, well, he's willing so we'll give it a shot! In exchange for the classes, I'll be trying to help at the church. I'm not sure what I can do, because there's not much that they need done that doesn't require being able to speak or write in Spanish. We'll figure it out!
What else? I don't know. I need to do something so I can write about it later.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Living Dead and Cracker Jax
This blog was written Nov. 1…or 2….well a few days ago.
Yesterday (or today) was (or is) dia de muertos…or something like that. I’m not quite sure if that’s right, but in any case it’s the day of the dead. To celebrate people make certain foods, apparently tamales and mole. I only say that because I keep getting fed tamales and mole. We have more tamales than you can shake a stick at, but the tamales story comes later. So, also for dia de muertos, people leave offerings of food out on a table so their dead relatives can come during the night and eat. I suggested we go house to house eating all the food. And if we’re questioned I’ll act like a ghost and say “Yo soy tu abuela y tengo hambre. Yo soy blanca porque yo soy muerte.” “I am your grandmother and I am hungry. I am white because I am dead.” Well, we didn’t go because we’ve been loaded down with tamales, as mentioned previously. Also people put a line of flower petals out their doors so the dead people know how to get it, I suppose. Some people also spend the night in the cemetery, eating food and singing and stuff. I just don’t get it. The other thing people do for the holiday is make balloons and send them off. Montse (Israel’s daughter) and I went to watch the balloons. It’s pretty impressive. I have video if you care to see. It’s impressive because they’re made with paper, and they’re huge! Some are 10-20 feet high. What I find most impressive is that they create a burner and light it on fire to make the balloon go up. The reason this is impressive to me is because the balloons are made of paper, which you probably realize is highly flammable. So they have to strategically fill the balloon with air before lighting the fire so that the balloon doesn’t go up in flames. Usually, the balloon does eventually go up in flames, you just hope you get it to lift off before it does.
Eating tamales in rural Mexico is kinda like getting Cracker Jax. You know you’re going to get a prize in the middle, but you don’t know if you want it. The other day I broke open a tamal to find a chicken toe, complete with nail, staring back at me. I put the tamal back together, wrapped it back up in the corn husk, and left it for someone else. Sometimes the things you find in your tamal aren’t nearly that interesting. But you just never know what it might be, maybe beans, maybe another kind of beans, maybe chicken, maybe a pig hoof, they keep you guessing. I’m sure it’s interesting to watch a gringa who has been faced with making a choice between 40 tamales. Choose wisely, white one, choose wisely.
There’s something exciting happening in the church, and I should send out an email update. The youth have started learning how to play instruments and lead worship. Until now, they’ve been doing cd led worship, or this one guy has been doing some old time Mexican worship on a guitar. But this past Sunday the youth led their first song. I’m so amazed by them! There are 5 youth who steadily come to youth group and church, and 4 of them know how to play instruments. The other one, the only girl, sings. Seeing them play on Sunday brought me to tears. It’s really great, I’m very proud of them. They make me miss my kids.
Tonight 1 of the ladies from Huitzilan, which is where 4 of the youth are from, came to our house while the youth were here. She brought us atole, which is a hot drink made out of rice and milk. She and Aby went and bought a cake and they threw me a little farewell party. I videoed everyone saying a few words to me, even though I didn’t always understand, it was so sweet. When Aby asked the one guy what he wanted to say to me, she said he had to say it in English, and he did a cat call whistle. You know, the one you do when someone looks good. I definitely blushed and didn’t look up from the cake I was cutting.
I don’t like that bugs bite, not at all. But I think there are especially mean bugs that bite you in the worst places. I thought the bottom of the foot was one of worst places to get bitten, but now I’m thinking the palm of the hand is worse. Well, at least with the chilly weather, the bugs aren’t as bad as they were a few weeks ago.
I’m trying to waste time while my laptop charges. There are only certain places in the house where I can charge it, and I was trying to charge it earlier in the kitchen but it got in the way of cake and atole. Now I want to go to bed, but I don’t want to go upstairs until it’s charged. Well, I’m out of things to write about for now so I’m going to play a game.
Yesterday (or today) was (or is) dia de muertos…or something like that. I’m not quite sure if that’s right, but in any case it’s the day of the dead. To celebrate people make certain foods, apparently tamales and mole. I only say that because I keep getting fed tamales and mole. We have more tamales than you can shake a stick at, but the tamales story comes later. So, also for dia de muertos, people leave offerings of food out on a table so their dead relatives can come during the night and eat. I suggested we go house to house eating all the food. And if we’re questioned I’ll act like a ghost and say “Yo soy tu abuela y tengo hambre. Yo soy blanca porque yo soy muerte.” “I am your grandmother and I am hungry. I am white because I am dead.” Well, we didn’t go because we’ve been loaded down with tamales, as mentioned previously. Also people put a line of flower petals out their doors so the dead people know how to get it, I suppose. Some people also spend the night in the cemetery, eating food and singing and stuff. I just don’t get it. The other thing people do for the holiday is make balloons and send them off. Montse (Israel’s daughter) and I went to watch the balloons. It’s pretty impressive. I have video if you care to see. It’s impressive because they’re made with paper, and they’re huge! Some are 10-20 feet high. What I find most impressive is that they create a burner and light it on fire to make the balloon go up. The reason this is impressive to me is because the balloons are made of paper, which you probably realize is highly flammable. So they have to strategically fill the balloon with air before lighting the fire so that the balloon doesn’t go up in flames. Usually, the balloon does eventually go up in flames, you just hope you get it to lift off before it does.
Eating tamales in rural Mexico is kinda like getting Cracker Jax. You know you’re going to get a prize in the middle, but you don’t know if you want it. The other day I broke open a tamal to find a chicken toe, complete with nail, staring back at me. I put the tamal back together, wrapped it back up in the corn husk, and left it for someone else. Sometimes the things you find in your tamal aren’t nearly that interesting. But you just never know what it might be, maybe beans, maybe another kind of beans, maybe chicken, maybe a pig hoof, they keep you guessing. I’m sure it’s interesting to watch a gringa who has been faced with making a choice between 40 tamales. Choose wisely, white one, choose wisely.
There’s something exciting happening in the church, and I should send out an email update. The youth have started learning how to play instruments and lead worship. Until now, they’ve been doing cd led worship, or this one guy has been doing some old time Mexican worship on a guitar. But this past Sunday the youth led their first song. I’m so amazed by them! There are 5 youth who steadily come to youth group and church, and 4 of them know how to play instruments. The other one, the only girl, sings. Seeing them play on Sunday brought me to tears. It’s really great, I’m very proud of them. They make me miss my kids.
Tonight 1 of the ladies from Huitzilan, which is where 4 of the youth are from, came to our house while the youth were here. She brought us atole, which is a hot drink made out of rice and milk. She and Aby went and bought a cake and they threw me a little farewell party. I videoed everyone saying a few words to me, even though I didn’t always understand, it was so sweet. When Aby asked the one guy what he wanted to say to me, she said he had to say it in English, and he did a cat call whistle. You know, the one you do when someone looks good. I definitely blushed and didn’t look up from the cake I was cutting.
I don’t like that bugs bite, not at all. But I think there are especially mean bugs that bite you in the worst places. I thought the bottom of the foot was one of worst places to get bitten, but now I’m thinking the palm of the hand is worse. Well, at least with the chilly weather, the bugs aren’t as bad as they were a few weeks ago.
I’m trying to waste time while my laptop charges. There are only certain places in the house where I can charge it, and I was trying to charge it earlier in the kitchen but it got in the way of cake and atole. Now I want to go to bed, but I don’t want to go upstairs until it’s charged. Well, I’m out of things to write about for now so I’m going to play a game.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Muy Triste
Yesterday was a sad day in my life. In the morning I went out to check on our chickens who have been living outside since Thursday, to find one gone. The neighbor said she saw an animal (that I can´t translate) snatch it during the night. I cried a little over Princess Leia. And I brought the rest inside, where they´re going to live for now. I think they´re still too little to stay outside.
Last night I said goodbye to the church in Huitzilan. Everyone was really nice, and they prayed for me. But the one little girl (who´s around 6 yrs old) started crying because I was leaving. So I picked her up, hugged her and told her that I love her, between sobs she told me she loved me too. And the harder she cried, the harder I cried. Within a few minutes all the ladies were in tears. Two of the men gave me some good words of encouragement, which began with "I can´t say what I would like to say to you, but I will pray for you..." It was really nice, but so sad. I said goodbye to them because I´m leaving to go back to Mexico tomorrow or Tuesday for my last 6 weeks here.
Later I´m going to write more upbeat things about dead people, and chicken toes. :)
Last night I said goodbye to the church in Huitzilan. Everyone was really nice, and they prayed for me. But the one little girl (who´s around 6 yrs old) started crying because I was leaving. So I picked her up, hugged her and told her that I love her, between sobs she told me she loved me too. And the harder she cried, the harder I cried. Within a few minutes all the ladies were in tears. Two of the men gave me some good words of encouragement, which began with "I can´t say what I would like to say to you, but I will pray for you..." It was really nice, but so sad. I said goodbye to them because I´m leaving to go back to Mexico tomorrow or Tuesday for my last 6 weeks here.
Later I´m going to write more upbeat things about dead people, and chicken toes. :)
Bugs, chickens & squirrels
Winter had left, but it’s back now. It’s been so rainy here, it pretty much rains every day. It makes doing laundry difficult because there’s never a good time to hang it out. But it makes living easier because it’s not in the 90s anymore.
Ben doesn’t believe I can write (what I call) stories about anything. But in the past few days I’ve proved to him that I can. He periodically says something like, “we have trash hanging from our stove; write a story!” So I did. Ok, it’s not really a story, but more like a one-sided conversation about something. In that case it was about the trash that’s hanging from our stove. You may be wondering why is there trash hanging from our stove. Just in case you are, or in case you couldn’t care less, I’ll explain.
Here in rural Mexico we have issues with bugs, namely ants. So anytime there’s garbage on the ground, there’s ants in the garbage, and a trail of ants following after the ones in the garbage. So we can’t keep garbage on the floor so we hang a bag from a knob on the stove. Does anyone care? I’m sure you don’t, but it’s based on the fact that I can talk about anything.
My toes are much browner than the rest of me.
It’s kinda boring here without Isra, Aby and the chilluns here. I’m not sure what the difference is, because I don’t feel like there’s any less to do without them, but I feel like it’s harder to occupy my time. I was just helping Ben build the nesting boxes for the chickums, but I don’t feel like doing that anymore. Actually I should probably go out and round up the pollitos, bring them in, and clean up the house/church before service tonight. I’m hoping it cools off enough this evening to share some ponche with whoever comes, but I doubt it will. We might make ponche anyhow. Ponche is a hot fruit drink, similar to hot apple cider, but it’s only served hot. The other day we made some hot chocolate, which was so yummy, but that’s when old man winter was still here. We’ve been getting raw milk from a woman here. We boil it before drinking it, although Ben wants to drink it raw, as per the woman’s instructions. The milk in Mexico is gross. I really hate it. I guess it’s the preservatives that make it taste bad. Ok, I gotta go help Ben and wrangle some chickitos.
Plans seem to change on a regular basis here, without warning. Israel and family were supposed to be back from Mexico on Sunday. On Monday Israel emailed us to let us know they’ll be staying in Mexico for another week. Then they showed up Friday night.
Last Friday Ben & I reconnected with a family from church who haven’t been around lately. It’s a single mom and her 3 teens. She also has a daughter who is away at college. I enjoy the family a lot. They’re very nice, very talkative and very entertaining. We spent time with them Friday, yesterday and today. Unfortunately because of a certain incident there’s a lot of rumors being spread about the family, and our neighbors have let us know that we shouldn’t allow them to come visit. So we just go to their house now. She took us to a restaurant here that we’ve been talking about trying. It was so good! By far my and Ben’s favorite place here in Zapotitlan. Six of us ate for 95 pesos, which is less than $8. We had tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas. It was yummy!! I think Ben and I might try to go every day until we leave.
Tomorrow Ben is planning on going squirrel hunting. I told him that if he brings a dead squirrel, or live, or somewhere in between, into my house I will stab him with my umbrella. I have a feeling that if he manages to kill one, he’ll bring it here and expect me to cook it. Not so sure that’s gonna happen.
Speaking of Ben, I wanna give a shout out to Ben’s mom. Hi Mrs. Yutzy, hope you enjoy my blog!
Seven weeks left until I return to chilly PA. Wow. This time has gone so fast. I’m hoping that in the next 7 weeks I learn much more Spanish, and learn how to make a lasting impact. I just really don’t want to go home and be “that gringa that was here for a little while.” I want God to impact people’s lives through me….or despite me. He’s still working that out.
I’ve been writing this blog for almost a week. And I keep having to go back to change things. I’m giving up on that. I really need to upload this soon. Ben and I have decided to head back to Mexico on Friday. It’s really bittersweet for me because I might not come back here…until next summer. It’s hard to imagine not being here, but that’s the reality of it.
Ben doesn’t believe I can write (what I call) stories about anything. But in the past few days I’ve proved to him that I can. He periodically says something like, “we have trash hanging from our stove; write a story!” So I did. Ok, it’s not really a story, but more like a one-sided conversation about something. In that case it was about the trash that’s hanging from our stove. You may be wondering why is there trash hanging from our stove. Just in case you are, or in case you couldn’t care less, I’ll explain.
Here in rural Mexico we have issues with bugs, namely ants. So anytime there’s garbage on the ground, there’s ants in the garbage, and a trail of ants following after the ones in the garbage. So we can’t keep garbage on the floor so we hang a bag from a knob on the stove. Does anyone care? I’m sure you don’t, but it’s based on the fact that I can talk about anything.
My toes are much browner than the rest of me.
It’s kinda boring here without Isra, Aby and the chilluns here. I’m not sure what the difference is, because I don’t feel like there’s any less to do without them, but I feel like it’s harder to occupy my time. I was just helping Ben build the nesting boxes for the chickums, but I don’t feel like doing that anymore. Actually I should probably go out and round up the pollitos, bring them in, and clean up the house/church before service tonight. I’m hoping it cools off enough this evening to share some ponche with whoever comes, but I doubt it will. We might make ponche anyhow. Ponche is a hot fruit drink, similar to hot apple cider, but it’s only served hot. The other day we made some hot chocolate, which was so yummy, but that’s when old man winter was still here. We’ve been getting raw milk from a woman here. We boil it before drinking it, although Ben wants to drink it raw, as per the woman’s instructions. The milk in Mexico is gross. I really hate it. I guess it’s the preservatives that make it taste bad. Ok, I gotta go help Ben and wrangle some chickitos.
Plans seem to change on a regular basis here, without warning. Israel and family were supposed to be back from Mexico on Sunday. On Monday Israel emailed us to let us know they’ll be staying in Mexico for another week. Then they showed up Friday night.
Last Friday Ben & I reconnected with a family from church who haven’t been around lately. It’s a single mom and her 3 teens. She also has a daughter who is away at college. I enjoy the family a lot. They’re very nice, very talkative and very entertaining. We spent time with them Friday, yesterday and today. Unfortunately because of a certain incident there’s a lot of rumors being spread about the family, and our neighbors have let us know that we shouldn’t allow them to come visit. So we just go to their house now. She took us to a restaurant here that we’ve been talking about trying. It was so good! By far my and Ben’s favorite place here in Zapotitlan. Six of us ate for 95 pesos, which is less than $8. We had tacos, tostadas, and quesadillas. It was yummy!! I think Ben and I might try to go every day until we leave.
Tomorrow Ben is planning on going squirrel hunting. I told him that if he brings a dead squirrel, or live, or somewhere in between, into my house I will stab him with my umbrella. I have a feeling that if he manages to kill one, he’ll bring it here and expect me to cook it. Not so sure that’s gonna happen.
Speaking of Ben, I wanna give a shout out to Ben’s mom. Hi Mrs. Yutzy, hope you enjoy my blog!
Seven weeks left until I return to chilly PA. Wow. This time has gone so fast. I’m hoping that in the next 7 weeks I learn much more Spanish, and learn how to make a lasting impact. I just really don’t want to go home and be “that gringa that was here for a little while.” I want God to impact people’s lives through me….or despite me. He’s still working that out.
I’ve been writing this blog for almost a week. And I keep having to go back to change things. I’m giving up on that. I really need to upload this soon. Ben and I have decided to head back to Mexico on Friday. It’s really bittersweet for me because I might not come back here…until next summer. It’s hard to imagine not being here, but that’s the reality of it.
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